Last month, after nearly two decades at U.S. Steel's Irvin Plant, Mr. Southers, 48, quit his job as a heavy equipment operator. He was a finalist for a job as the artistic director of a Fort Worth, Texas-based theater company.

When that job fell through, Mr. Southers assumed he would simply have more time than originally planned to figure out his next move. He was committed to pursuing his calling as a playwright and director with the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, the regional company he founded.